Hampstead Theatre
Subscribe now to instantly view this image
Subscribe to the Architects’ Journal (AJ) for instant access to the AJ Buildings Library, an online database of nearly 2,000 exemplar buildings in photographs, plans, elevations and details.
Already a subscriber? Sign in
The exterior is an elegant mix of glazing, timber slatting and coloured light panels
Peter Cook/VIEW (website) Download Original
Writers' theatre in north London, with an auditorium that is flexible in both staging and seating configurations.
The three storeys, one below ground, are connected by the foyer. Wrapped around the auditorium at ground level are the cafe/bar space, box office and WCs – ramped bridges extend across the foyer void to access the auditorium.
To the rear there is a large workshop space with access directly from the street. The theatre has no stage door, actors, staff and audiences enter by the same route. Offices, wardrobe and dressing rooms are on the first floor, where there is direct access to the auditorium balcony seating and an overflow foyer area. Separate front and back-of-house stairs provide the necessary dedicated circulation routes for public and staff.
The exterior of the building is clad in a mixture of glazing, timber slatting and coloured light panels. The theatre is firmly rooted to the ground, with level access from the street it reading as a semi-transparent, two storey orthogonal steel-framed pavilion in which the sculptural form can be clearly distinguished, rising above the enclosure.
Data
- Begun: 1994
- Completed: 2003
- Floor area: 3,358m2
- Sector: Arts and culture
- Total cost: £15.7M
- Address: Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, Camden, NW3 3EU, United Kingdom
Professional Team 
- Architect: Bennetts Associates
- Project architect: Denise Bennetts
- Client: Hampstead Theatre Foundation
- Structural engineer: Curtins Consulting Engineers
- Theatre consultant: Theatreplan
- Project manager: Buro Four
- Cost consultant: Citex Bucknall Austin
- Acoustic consultant: Arup Acoustics
- Lighting design: Robert Bryan
- Lighting Artist: Martin Richman
- Main contractor: Dove Brothers
Suppliers
- Primary Structural Steelwork: Rowan Structures
- Concrete Columns: Trent Concrete
- Curtain walling: Reynears
- Hardwood Supplier: Ecotimber
- Zinc cladding: Carlton Southern